‘Descendants 2’ Premiere Draws 13 Million Viewers Across Six Networks

RELATED: 'Descendants 2' director Kenny Ortega discusses TV musicals 

Friday night's premiere of Disney Channel’s original movie Descendants 2 averaged 13 million viewers across six network airings, according to Nielsen.

The audience for the July 21 premiere of Descendants 2, a sequel to the Disney’s 2015 musical themed movie, represented combined viewers from simultaneous airings of the movie on Disney Channel, Lifetime, Lifetime Movies, ABC, Disney XD and Freeform, said Disney. 

On Disney Channel, Descendants 2 drew 5.3 million viewers, the most watched telecast on the network since Descendants garnered 6.6 million viewers in its July 2015 premiere, according to Nielsen. Descendants 2, which stars Dove Cameron and China Anne McClain, also drew two year highs for the network in kids 2-11 (2.2 million viewers), kids 6-11 (1.8 million) and tweens 9-14 (1.9 million viewers.

Descendants 2 also broke social media records for Disney Channel driving more Video Views (174.1 million), Impressions (90.8 million) and Engagements (14.6 million) than any social campaign in the network's history, reported Disney. 

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.